


The Language of Flowers

by QueenAsha



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F, Femslash February, First Meetings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-14 00:12:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1245511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenAsha/pseuds/QueenAsha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spencer goes out in search for flowers for her sister's engagement, but it is the florist who catches her eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Language of Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally the cheesiest fanfic I have ever written. I would apologize, but I think every ship needs its over-the-top retail!romance AU

 

The heat of summer is leaking into the _Birds and Bees_ store, and Spencer wishes she'd had the forethought to wear something lighter. She tugs at the collar of her sweater. God, she hopes she doesn't start sweating.

 

Right, _focus_. Spencer eyes the jungle of flowers, reading the names and hoping something will stick out; spider flowers, nasturtiums, monkshood, jonquil... she has barely heard of half of these. With a sinking feeling, she realizes that she has no idea what she's doing. She kneels down, eyeing the flowers to her left. Geraniums. Would they do?

 

“Hey there. Can I help you?”

 

Spencer looks up, and her breath catches in her throat. The girl behind the counter is smiling brightly. She's short, with dark hair curling down to her waist. She's wearing a rose-print skater dress, and clipped to her floral apron, she's wearing a sign which reads “Aria”. Spencer thinks that in usual circumstances, she would find the flower-on-flower dress too much, but it's oddly fitting on Aria. Spencer also finds her very, very cute.

 

Realizing that she has been quiet for a little too long, Spencer clears her throat. “Yes. Yes please, I'm looking for flowers.”

 

“Well, you've certainly come to the right place,” says Aria.

 

“I'm looking for something for my sister. She's having an engagement party this evening, and I left the present a little late. Any idea what I could get.”

 

Aria _hmm'_ s softly. “Well, I wouldn't go for those,” she says, gesturing at the geraniums. “They generally symbolise idiocy or folly.”

 

“Not the message I had in mind.”

 

“How about some peonies? They're very popular with engagements,” Aria says, showing her a pink flower which Spencer would have assumed was a pink rose. She nods anyway, figuring that Aria knows what she is doing.

 

Aria picks them out one by one, carefully considering every individual specimen. While she works, Spencer browses the rest of the store. There are a few pre-made arrangements waiting for collection, but pretty as they are, Spencer prefers the section of the store where the flowers are grouped by species. She may not know what they are, but it looks neater, somehow. She lingers by the tulips.

 

“See anything else you like?”

 

Spencer starts; she hasn't realised how close Aria is. “I know these ones!” Spencer wants to slap herself the moment she lets the words out, but Aria laughs.

 

“Glad to hear. Is this bouquet okay?” Aria shows her, and Spencer nods. Aria produces a roll of string from her apron and starts tying the flowers together. She talks while she works. “I love tulips, they're one of my favourites.”

 

“I like the striped ones,” Spencer says. “I've never seen any in real life though.”

 

“You've never _seen_ variegated tulips before?” She sounds scandalized.

 

“My mum prefers solids.”

 

“Well, we can't have that, can we?” Aria reaches in, and gently pulls out a tulip.

 

“I don't–”

 

“On the house,” Aria smiles brightly, and Spencer can only stare as she twirls round and heads for the counter. She wraps the tulip quickly. Spencer hesitates when she hands it over. “Are you sure?”

 

“I've got to do something to ensure customer loyalty, don't I?”

 

Spencer supposes that it's a sound argument. She smiles. “Thank you.”

 

“Always happy to please.” Then Aria winks. _Winks!_

 

Spencer stutters out some unacceptable form of reply and hurries out of the store. By the time she's out on the street, her face is burning, and she thinks she may have damaged the flowers in her death-grip. Glancing back in through the window, Spencer can make out the form of Aria looking after her. _I'm screwed,_ she realizes.

 

-

 

Spencer isn't even able to stay away for a week. She feels almost ashamed of herself as she steps through the door of the _Birds and Bees_ florist, but her mortification fades as she catches sight of Aria.

 

Aria is tending to a potted orchid. She looks up at the sound of the store entry bell, and smiles brightly at Spencer. “You're back!” she says. “Did your sister like the flowers?”

 

“She did,” Spencer says. “I'm surprised you remember.”

 

“I always remember a pretty face.”

 

Spencer had come here with the intention of talking to Aria, maybe even drop her her number. Fuelled by a sudden fit of panic, she finds an accidental lie on her tongue. “I need help finding another present.”

 

Aria seems to shrink together slightly. “Oh, right. What exactly are you after?”

 

“Um...” _Shit._ “My sister had a baby.”

 

“A baby? She's had a busy week.”

 

Spencer tries not to look guilty; she's never been that good of a liar, at least not when put on the spot. “A boy,” she tells her. Scrambling for a name, she goes for the first one that comes to mind.“Toby.”

 

“So you're looking for something blue?” Aria asks.

 

“I'd prefer something less gendered. Yellow?”

 

“Yellow is a good color,” Aria agrees. “Anything else you want me to include?”

 

Spencer shakes her head. “I'll trust your judgement.”

 

Aria chatters away at Spencer as she picks out the flowers. Spencer finds it pleasant, and she's oddly glad that there aren't any other customers in the store to steal Aria's attention. She tells Spencer about how her interest in floral arrangements started when she was a little girl, and would pick flowers from her mom's potted plants so that she could use them for her doll's weddings. Spencer finds that image adorable, and when she says as much, she catches Aria's cheeks flush pink for just a second. _Score._

 

When the arrangement is done, she sets it on the counter. “Is this okay?”

 

“It's beautiful.” It really is. She has kept the colors soft, using white roses as a base, with dashes of yellow roses, and the occasional gerbera. She's topped it off with a ribbon in a striking shade of lemon. Seated in the oasis, there is a small, fluffy teddy bear.

 

As she goes to pay for the the creation, Aria hands her a sparkly balloon, with the print _It's a Boy!_ “No extra charge,” she tells her.

 

“You're going to go go bust if you keep giving me things for free,” Spencer tells her.

 

“Not if you keep coming back. You've spent more than a hundred dollars here in less than a week.”

 

Spencer laughs awkwardly, trying not to think about the needless dent this will leave in her account balance. Law student she may be, but she's a student all the same.

 

When Aria hands her her items, their fingers touch. Spencer may be imagining things, but she thinks that Aria's hands may be lingering for just a little longer than necessary.

 

She leaves the store with a smile on her face. It's not until she's several blocks down the road that she realizes that she has no idea what to do with the flowers.

 

-

 

Spencer briefly contemplates the idea of sneaking into a hospital and dumping the flowers next to a random baby at the maternity ward. She quickly dismisses the idea as ridiculous, but she can't bring herself to bring them home or leave them on the street, either.

 

What she ends up doing instead is dropping them on to Hanna's coffee table. “I have a problem,” Spencer tells her.

 

Hannah looks at the balloon, horrified. “You're pregnant?”

 

“What? No, of course not!”

 

“Then what is it? Who is this for?”

 

Spencer puts her head in her hands. “I may have bought them on impulse.”

 

“How did you manage that?”

 

“I think I have a crush on a florist.”

 

“Oh?” Hanna brightens noticeably. “What's he like?”

 

“ _She_ is cute. Very cute.”

 

“How did you guys meet?”

 

“I was getting flowers for my sisters engagement thing. And then I went back to talk to her, or _something_ , but I panicked. And then this happened,” Spencer says, making a vague gesture at the flowers. “I'm not really sure what to do now.”

 

“Well, you'll have to introduce me to her, of course!”

 

“No.” She mentally shudders at the thought.

 

“Please!” Hanna says, clasping her hands together.

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

“I promise I'll be good!”

 

Spencer is about to say no, but then Hanna throws in a pout. And the puppy eyes. “Fine,” she says. “Fine, you can come.”

 

“Awesome!”

 

Before Spencer can stop her, Hanna's on her feet. “Wait, not now–”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because I was there an hour ago!”

 

“So?”

 

“She'll think I'm a stalker. Or something. We aren't going, not today. And that's final.”

 

-

 

“Oh, you're back?” Aria says. She has tied her hair back during Spencer's absence, and it leaves her neck exposed. A few strands have fallen loose, framing the left side of her face, and Spencer is filled with the urge to adjust it. She is left momentarily speechless, and she thinks she's going to have to kill Hanna. _Curse her and her skills of persuasion._

 

Luckily, Hanna proves to be looking out for her after all. “Hi!” She greets. “Spence has told me all about you. She showed me the arrangements you made and I though that I _need_ to get something similar for my boyfriend!”

 

“Do you have anything special in mind?”

 

Spencer watches Hanna and Aria discuss the flowers, trying not to be too visibly awkward. Her eyes drift across the stock, and land on the variegated tulips. She smiles.

 

“Still got your eyes on those?” Aria asks.

 

Spencer flushes; she hadn't realized that she and Hanna had stopped talking. “They're beautiful,” she manages. “I think they're my new favourite.”

 

“Good choice.”

 

“What do they mean?” Spencer asks, remembering Aria's eagerness to tell her all about the language of flowers when she was here last.

 

“You have beautiful eyes,” she says, not breaking eye contact. “It's a good flower for you.”

 

Hanna chooses that moment to clear her throat. “Can I get the flowers delivered?”

 

Spencer isn't sure if she wants to kiss Hanna for saving her from having to think of a smooth answer, or kill her for interrupting. In the end, she does neither, settling back into her uncomfortable shuffling.

 

When they turn to leave, Spencer is stopped by a soft hand on her forearm. “Wait,” Aria tells her. “This is for you. For keeping me in business.” She hands over over a small bouquet of variegated tulips.

 

“Thank you,” Spencer says. “They're lovely.”

 

“Just come back again soon,” Aria says, and then Hanna is dragging Spencer out through the door.

 

-

 

“She's totally in to you!”

 

“Stop it,” Spencer says.

 

“She is! She was _flirting_!”

 

“She was not,” Spencer insists, but then she adjusts her grip on the tulip and she isn't so sure.

 

Hanna elbows her cheerfully, and starts chatting away about her social ineptitude. They're half-way down the street when Hanna stops, clutching the pocket of her jeans. “Crap, I think I left my cell in the store. I'll have to go back and get it.”

 

“Do you want me to come with you?”

 

“Nah, I'll be fine. Wait here, I'll only be a sec.”

 

Spencer sighs, but doesn't put up a fight. She leans against the closest lamp post and watches Hanna walk back towards _Birds and Bees_.

 

“You got it?” Spencer asks.

 

Hanna waves her phone. “All good.”

 

As they continue down the street, Spencer can't help but notice that Hanna is smirking. It's a slightly uneasy sight, but she doesn't dare ask.

 

.

 

Spencer wakes the next morning to the sound of her doorbell. She groans, flips over, and crawls deeper into her cocoon of blankets.

 

The bell rings again.

 

And then a third time.

 

By the fourth ring, she gives up. “ONE MOMENT!” she shouts,clambering her way out of bed. She slips into her purple nightgown and a pair of slippers. She combs her fingers through her hair to gain some sort of control over it, and then opens the door.

 

It's Aria. Spencer feels a flash of mortification.

 

“Oh, um, did I wake you? I'm so sorry.”

 

Spencer glances at the clock to her left, and sees that it is half-past eleven. “It's fine,” she says, because what else can she say? Aria shuffles, and Spencer notices that she seems somewhat uncomfortable too. “Is everything okay?” She asks.

 

“I'm actually here to deliver these,” Aria tells her, and then she's handing her an enormous bouquet of flowers. They smell exquisite, and it's a beautiful arrangement; consisting mainly of variegated tulips, lily of the valley, and white lilies. The meaning of the last one, Spencer does know. _I dare you to love me._

 

“I don't remember ordering this,” she says once she finds her voice.

 

“They're a gift.” She looks vulnerable then, and Spencer suddenly realizes what is going on here. Somehow, she finds the courage to do something she's been wanting to do since she first saw Aria in the flower store; she leans in and kisses her.

 

Spencer is too nervous to kiss her properly, so she keeps it short and sweet. Before she pulls away though, she can feel Aria responding, and she knows she hasn't misread the situation.

 

“Not to ruin a moment, but how did you find me?” Spencer asks.

 

“Your friend gave me your address,” Aria tells her. “She came running in after you left the other day. She said that you would appreciate a romantic gesture.”  
  


“Well, she wasn't wrong,” Spencer says.

 

Aria glances down at her watch, and seems to deflate slightly “Dammit, I have to go.”

 

“Already?”

 

“Technically, I should be at work. I have a bride who needs help with an arrangement. But before I go...” Aria stands on her tip-toes, bringing their lips together again. Spencer can't help but be overwhelmed by her her delicate scent, and she thinks she makes some sort of noise in the back of her throat, because Aria slows down. “You okay?”

 

“You...” Spencer trails off, embarrassed.

 

“I what?”  
  


“Nothing, it's stupid.”

 

“Go on, tell me,” Aria insists.

 

“It's just... your perfume. It's apple.”

 

Aria looks pulls away slightly, puzzled. “Is that a problem?”

 

“No, not at all. I was just expecting something more...”

 

“Floral?” Aria smirks. “I am interested in things other than flowers, you know. I read a lot, and I write stories.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Come round the store later,” Aria tells her. “We could go and get coffee once I'm done. I'll tell you all about my hobbies.” She starts walking away, but pauses. “Oh, and Spencer? I wasn't lying, before. You really do have beautiful eyes.”

 


End file.
